Since 2004, AdvanceVT has hosted an annual workshop geared toward advancing diversity at Virginia Tech. Throughout the evolution of this initiative, feedback from the workshops has been overwhelmingly positive and the annual workshop has become a signature event for AdvanceVT. The speakers and breakout sessions inform participants about research and programs related to broadening participation in academic careers, provide examples of successful approaches to institutional change, and both energize and challenge attendees to examine their own biases and consider new ways to engage in diversity work.

The first annual workshop in 2004 focused on issues related to women in academic science and engineering careers and was held at the Hotel Roanoke in Roanoke, VA. This event was organized soon after Virginia Tech received an NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant in September 2003, and served as an opportunity to educate the university community about the ADVANCE initiative and to begin discussing opportunities for change at Virginia Tech. In response to feedback from the 2004 workshop that indicated many participants would prefer events to be held in Blacksburg, the 2005 workshop was held on campus at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center under the title of “Advancing Women at Virginia Tech.” In 2006, the annual workshop was moved to the new Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, and the 2007 – 2010 workshops were also held at this facility. After the first few years of the AdvanceVT initiative, the focus of the annual workshops was expanded to address other underrepresented groups in academe in addition to women. By 2009, registration for the annual workshop had grown to approximately 300 participants.